Good to Great - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Sometimes God changes the plan. Even plans that He has ordained for you. The question is, “How will you respond?”

I was put in this perceived predicament last month while in Mongolia.

We arrived in Mongolia last month stoked to be forging the way for future World Race squads and Adventures in Missions trips. Z Squad was the pioneer squad to the unchartered waters of the large nomadic lands of Mongolia. Prepared and eagerly waiting to love on Mongolians and show them service of Christ too.

After a 36 hour train ride from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. Then a 8 hour bus ride from Ulaanbaatar to Karakorum, Team Relentless finally arrived on site and ready to go. Oh minor side note….Mongolia has more potholes per kilometer of road than any place I have ever been too, so the bus ride consisted of contestant serving to miss half of them, driving on the wrong side of the road to avoid another quarter of them, and the bus directly hit the other quarter of them.

Karakorum was the capital of Mongolia in the 13th century and now home to roughly 13,000 people and only about 50 attend a Christian church. Our work was cut out for us entering a Buddhist area surround by tons of idols.

Mongolia yurt...this is how we lived in Karakorum Mongolia yurt…..this is how we lived in Karakorum

There is a bright light in Karakorum and that was our contact! He has a foster home to about 30 kids and was building a church! It was awesome to hear his heart for Karakorum and being a positive change not only for the kids but for the community as well. His heart was clearly attuned to God’s calling for his life. Our part for the month was to love on the kids, tend to the garden, teach English, and go on prayer walks around Karakorum.

Then the “call” came. The one you never want to hear. The one that leaves a gaping hole in your stomach and the feeling of I wish I had done “xyz.” For some it is a call about a job loss, a loved one has been in an accident, an unexpected loss of a friend, or you fill in the blank of the worst situation coming to life. For us as missionaries the call was, “We would like y’all to leave first thing tomorrow morning. This isn’t working out for us and it would be better if y’all left.”

Our hearts instantly sunk to a new “low” on the race. Opposition hit us clear in the face and it stung. We went all out to love on them the best we could. In short the communication between us and our contact was not good enough. Having one child as a translator for us, it truly was difficult. Just to be clear, I harbor ZERO resentment, anger, or negative thoughts toward this contact. A lot of me admires his BOLDNESS to speak up on behalf of his ministry, even if it just due to mis-communication. I have nothing but love and respect for them.

The next day we traveled back to Ulaanbaatar as requested and went back to the main contact here in Mongolia to discuss what had happened, and to set us up with a new ministry.

Through this time God definitely tested us in our perseverance and would we continue to be faithful to Him despite what we were going through. It was a time to check our hearts and decide are we going to stand firm in the armour of God and continue to advance the Gospel or retreat.

We rose to the challenge and met it head on as we embraced a new ministry. This time we got partnered with a pastor in Ulaanbaatar that was in the process of building 3 churches (one in Ulaanbaatar, and 2 out in the countryside)! I have never met a man that took on such a large undertaking with such JOY and willingness to help others! His plate was full building 3 churches by himself, preaching at a couple others, and a family man. He was filled and driven by the love of Christ as he would go out of his way to help other local pastors build their church too. If there was something that could be done to help out another pastor or ministry, he was all for it. The joy that comes from this man is indescribable and I am blessed to have served alongside him for 10 days.

Here is the church we helped build….one story down, 2 to go!

The blessings from the second experienced could never of been received if God didn’t change the plans. They wouldn’t of been realized if we choose to retreat rather than push into what God was leading us through.

No matter what the “call” may bring you have a choice: To stand firm in the armour of God and His prevailing truths or retreat. I encourage you to continue to push into God’s word. One thing that helped me through this time was memorizing scripture, in particular Ephesians 6:10-20 and Psalm 23.

View from a mountain overlooking Karakorum